


Are you worthy of being a father?

by kemor



Category: Gintama
Genre: Comfort, Dadtoki, Emotional Hurt, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Minor Violence, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-26
Updated: 2016-10-11
Packaged: 2018-08-17 10:51:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8141188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kemor/pseuds/kemor
Summary: Yorozuya's peaceful life gets interrupted by a certain man who claims to be Kagura's father. Will they get through his visit, or has their time spent together been nothing but a lie?





	1. Chapter 1

In this story, Umibouzu appears much, MUCH later than in the series. It's been 2 years since Gintoki let Kagura live in his house. Since Kagura is 16, expect some of her usual behaviour with a weird mix of her being mature. Her feelings towards her father are also a "little" rougher than they were in the original series. Rated T for some pathetically written fight scenes. Enjoy! o/

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It was yet another, sunny day in Edo. Sun kept throwing up its toxic beams, making everyone hate it yet again. The air was so heavy, you could hang an axe on it and people's nostrills burned with each breath. And yet there was him. A medium height figure strolled through the streets of Kabuki District, not giving a damn about the weather.

Heavy, thick googles covering his eyes, a thick, brown hat-like helmet on his head, a black coat and black pants covering his body, with black gloves and hands and forearms covered in bangades and a giant umbrella holstered on his back - it was quite obvious that this person looked at least weird, getting looks from people. Some of them shook their heads, some of them stared in disbelief and others pretended to not see it, fearing that it'd attack them on sight.

It smiled to itself under bandages that covered its mouth - these were common reactions. No sane person would wear clothes like these in this heat. But some people just don't have a choice.

The person reached its destination, looking up, covering its eyes - despite wearing googles, the sun was so bright they didn't help that much. Adjusting its sight, the sign could finally be read.

Yorozuya Gin-chan

Smiling, the figure started to make its way up the stairs, feeling its heart beat with excitement. If received information was correct, she'd be in this place.

As it made its way to the floor, voices from inside of the apartment started to get louder. It was quite obvious that people living there had an argument, and took it into a room that was close to frontal door, as female and male voices could be heard, mixing with each other.

"I told you hundreds of times, YOU CAN'T DO THAT! How old are you, 10?!" yelled an irritated male voice.

"It's not my fault you don't feed me well enough! What you give me daily is worth one proper breakfast!" said a female voice, a voice he immediately recognized.

"No normal human eats this much in one sitting!"

"Maybe, but I'm not a human!"

"WILL YOU TWO SHUT THE HELL UP?! WHY ARE YOU MAKING SUCH A FUSS OVER A BAG OF RICE?!" this time, a young voice that belonged to a boy expressed its annoyance, joining the argument.

"SHUT UP!" female and male voices yelled in unison.

Chuckling to itself, the heavy clothed man beat the last few steps and made it to the shoji. Taking a deep breath, it tried to contain the excitement and happiness.

"Whatever, I'm going to my room. Idiots."

"That's not even your room! Don't think I'll let you go that easy, I don't give a shit.."

Ringing the bell, the person standing in front of the door broke the argument. Silence fell upon the inside of the apartment, and only the sound of closing door could be heard, implying that the female ignored the warning and entered the room she wasn't supposed to go in.

Steps could be heard, as a person started to walk towards the door, mumbling something about "who the hell" and "at a time like this..."

The door opened, as a silver-haired person, clad in white kimono and heavy, black boots made its appearance, with a young, black-haired boy in glasses behind him.

"What?" asked Sakata Gintoki. His face expressed annoyance, sleepiness, hunger and a hangover.

"Is this Yorozuya?" the person asked, its voice revealed to be deep and manly.

Gintoki's face loosened up, as a potential client just appeared - as lazy as he was, when it came to work he was a professional.

"Yea, it is. But you came at the wrong moment, I'm afraid." he responded, looking angrily at the door.

The clothed man looked at the door, and concluded that this is where the female must've been hiding. Smiling to himself, he said

"Oh don't worry, I think the time is just perfect. This won't take long."

Gintoki raised his brow in confusion. If leading Yorozuya taught him one thing, it's that they never, EVER had an easy job before. Believing this weirdly looking guy was something Gintoki could not do, but at the end of the day, he was still a client.

"Okay, then. Come on in and let us in on that "quick job" you've got for us." Gintoki sidestepped, making room for the guest.

"Oh, that won't be necessary. All I want you to do is open that" he pointed at the door where the girl hid behind "door to your left."

Gintoki and Shinpachi both looked at the door. Then, they looked at each other, staring into each others eyes, with a psychic battle happening between them at the same moment.

"You do it."

"No, you do it. Elders first."

"Indeed, but I'm giving you permission to do it for me."

"I'll tell her you spent her salary on gambling."

"I'll tell Otae about your porn."

"I...Fine."

With a sigh of defeat, Shinpachi walked up to the door and gently knocked on it, trying to not anger the beast hiding behind it.

"Could you come out? We've got a job to do."

Hearing no responce, the boy sighed in defeat and took few steps back, rolling up his sleeves.

"Gin-san, are you ready?"

"I've been since you agreed to do it." Gintoki responded, holding a phone in his hand with 911 dialed in, ready to press the green button at any moment.

Shinpachi warcried and ran towards the door, only to plant his face into the wood, as the door suddenly opened.

As the boy fell to the ground, blood streaming down his nose, with his boss already calling an ambulance and the door opening, the client started to regret coming in here.

Hovewer his doubt vanished, as a pale-skinned girl walked out of the room, wearing pink pajamas that were geting too small for her. Her long hair that reached her breasts was in complete disarray, with a haystack standing on top of her hand and her locks all over her face.

"Do you really have to bang on the door?" asked Kagura, looking at the unconscious male lying by her feet. "Are you going to yell at me for pooping as well? Maybe I'll just move ou-."

"Kagura."

She stopped her monologue and looked at the clothed male, feeling that she knows this voice.

"I've been looking for you, Kagura.".

Gintoki, who succeded in waking Shinpachi up, looked at Kagura and then back at the man in confusion. "Wait, you know each other?"

Kagura frowned and took a closer look at the man.

"Papi?"

Gintoki and Shinpachi blinked simultaneously.

"PAPI?!" they both yelled, both suprised at the sudden reunion.

The man seemed to be extremely happy to see his daughter, as water started to leak from his thick gogles, implying that he was crying from happiness. Kagura, on the other hand, was not amused and kept glaring at the man with a small degree of disguist in her eyes.

Shortly after, the man took all Yorozuya members to a restaurant, where he treated them to a meal. Gintoki and Shinpachi having not eaten anything for breakfast (thanks to Kagura) devoured their food at incredible speed, sending Kagura occasional looks, afraid that she might steal food off their plate like she usually did. Kagura, on the other hand, did not touch her plate and kept staring at the window, with her legs crossed under the table and her hands crossed on her already developed chest.

The man introduced himself as Umibouzu, the most famous and most powerful alien sweeper in the universe. Shinpachi, recognizing the name choked on his rice, shocked that someone this powerful and famous was his friend's father. Gintoki, on the other hand, had no idea who Umibouzu was and wondered how the hell can he be a monk if he was only partially bald.

Kagura, irritated with both Shinpachi's gasps of excitement and her father's presence, expressed her feelings with a loud groan. All three men looked at her with suprised looks.

"Yeah, the great alien sweeper. What the hell did you even come here for?" she said, not taking her sight off the window. Her voice sounded like that of a viper, each word filled with poison.

Umibouzu put down his fork and put his hands together. He looked stricly at Kagura and said "I'm taking you with me. We're going home."

Shinpachi stopped eating and looked at Umibouzu in confusion. Kagura took her eyes off the window and looked at her father - she was absolutely livid.

"That's the worst joke I've heard in years." she said through her teeth. Her father, not intimidated in the slightest, chuckled to himself.

"You look just like your mother when she got mad." he said, smiling to himself, completely ignoring Kagura's deathstare.

"How can you even mention her?" Kagura asked in disbelief, mixed with disguist. "You'd abandoned all of us years ago, you barely came to visit us. You weren't even at her funeral. And now you have balls to come here and tell me that you're taking me home?"

Kagura's voice was shaky, full of anger. She looked like she was about to drill a hole through her father with her glare at any moment. The male Yato however was not phased by his daughter's strict look what so ever, and calmly listened to her, making her even angrier.

Shinpachi, who had no idea what to do looked at Gintoki, who'd been quiet ever since they came here. He was now staring at his unfinished ramen, his eyes burning with something that resembled fury. Shinpachi had no idea who to fear more - Kagura, or Gintoki.

"I've explained this to you many times." Umibouzu said, his voice slowly losing its calmness "I did that to protect you. We're monsters, Kagura. All we do is fight and yearn for blood, even if it's blood of our family. Your brother had given you a great example of that." he lectured his daughter, reaching for his left arm.

"I'm different. From all of you. That's why Kamui left me alone with dying Mammy. He did not want such a weakling as his sister. I can't even count how many times I've been left to die in a pool of my own blood, just because I couldn't beat an adult Yato at the age of 6"

Shinpachi, who'd been staring at Kagura in disbelief suddenly jumped, as if woken up. He blinked and looked to his right, noticing what caused the loud noise that reached his ears a moment ago. Gintoki, with pure fury on his face sat right next to him, with remains of chopsticks in his hand. Shinpachi swallowed his spit and did not dare to say a word to the man - he had never seen Gintoki this mad in his entire life. Yatos, on the other hand, did not bother themselves with the samurai and kept glaring at each other.

Umibouzu sighed and slowly stood up from his seat. He reached towards inner pocket of his coat and took out his wallet.

"I see your time here wasn't good for you." he said, counting bills "I let you come here to respect your mother's wish, but I see that was a mistake. Someone's influence over you is at fault here, I guess." he stared at Gintoki, putting money on the table, paying for their food. He then took out a quite big stack of money and started to count it, bill after bill.

"But I do have to thank you for what you did to my daughter. Here" he threw a big stash of cash in front of Gintoki "for taking care of her for the past 2 years. Consider it a payment for the job I gave you this morning. Now, let's go, Kagu.."

He didn't get to finish, as something hit his right temple with incredible force, making him fly through the window, destroying it in the process.

Kagura, holding her purple umbrella so hard her palm started to bleed, panted heavily. She was absolutely livid. She jumped out of the cracked window and landed on the roof of the train station, where her father was already getting up from the fall, blood dripping from his cut skin.

"All this talk about being different from us" he said, getting dust off his clothes "and yet you act just like a Yato would."

"Don't you dare treat Gin-chan like this." Kagura said, her voice almost a whisper. She felt like all her anger towards her father was about to be released in a single moment.

"HE IS MORE OF A FATHER TO ME THAN YOU EVER WERE!" she yelled, charging at the man, who quickly reached for his umbrella, blocking the attack with ease.

"Too naive. You'll have to-" his mocking tone was gone, as Kagura landed a powerful kick to his ribs, making the man lose his breath. Realising that his daughter was not as weak as he remembered her to be, he felt his instincts take over his mind, as he grabbed her leg and easily picked her up, only to throw her into the roof, causing them both to fall through the cracked concrete, landing on the tracks beneath them and making Kagrua cough some blood up. She quickly recovered and grabbed his arm, catching it in an armbar. She felt the man pull his arm out and realising she's not strong enough to hold him, she rolled to her stomach, keeping the arm under her body. Flexing with all her might, she pulled with all she had, feeling his elbow make cracking noises.

Hearing this, Umibouzu used even more strenght and picked the girl up with his arm, throwing her into the nearby wall, making her fall right through it. Kagura, slowly getting back up could hear her fathers footsteps, as he walked towards her with a mix of pride and sadness in his eyes.

"I see you've gotten a lot stronger. But it still makes me sad that you'd rather make us hurt each other than be a family again."

Kagura, who was panting heavily took one deep breath and calmed down, spitting blood afterwards. She then stood up and stroke her fighting pose, reading herself for next attack.

"You are the one hurt us, all of us. And I already have a family. You didn't care about me ever since Mammy died and now you come here and ruin everything I worked for for the past 2 years?"

"You call these retards your family? You call this lazy drunk your "father?" All he wants from you is your unique strenght. There are multpiple people who want to benefit from using our strenght foir their personal reasons. If he's that much of a father to you, then tell me - did he ever show you any love? Any compassion?"

Kagura looked at him, suprised. Gintoki had never told her what she meant to him, he never hugged her, he never let her sleep with him when she had nightmares. He did, however, let her fight. Quite often...

She slapped herself, making Umibouzu look at her in confusion.

What the hell am I thinking? Don't let this bald idiot get into your mind, you idiot! she scolded herself in her mind.

"Gin-chan is not like that. Just letting me stay with him is enough for me!" she said, throwing her father's words out of her mind.

Umibouzu sighed and gripped his umbrella tighter. "You leave me no other choice then. I'll bring you back, even if I have to rough you up."

In an instance he appeared behind Kagura. Before she could react in time, her father hit her in her neck with his weapon, almost knocking her out in a single blow. Kagura's wimp body flew across the train station and was about to crash into a family that was passing by, when someone suddenly caught her, preventing the impact.

Gintoki, who just caught up with them was standing in front of a crying child and its mother, with half-conscious Kagura in his arms.

"Gin-chan..." she whispered weakly, smiling faintly at the man. He gripped her tigher and angrily looked at the culprit, who was staring back at Gintoki. A small cword started to gather around them, curious to see what happened.

"Bastards, what are you doing? This is a family matter."

Gintoki put Kagura down, and stood back up.

"Are you planning on fighting me? You've got balls, I admit it."

Gintoki kept staring at the man, before releasing a lazy sigh.

"After Housen I think I got my share of fighting Yatos. Ain't no way I can beat you. And if you really want to take her back, then I guess I can't stop you. I'd rather not die at the age of twenty-##%#"

Umibouzu looked at Gintoki, raising an eyebrow in confusion. He wasn't sure whether he was trying to make him lower his guard or if he was serious.

Gintoki then faced Kagura and said something she never thought she'd hear from him.

"Go home."

Kagura's eyes widened as she felt her brain rebel against her. A mix of feelings building up inside her, as she kept repeating his words in her mind. Go home

"W-what do you m-mean, Gin-chan? Go home?!" she asked him, starting to panic "Y-you mean back to Yorozuya, right?!"

She expected to see him laugh, telling her that he's kidding and he did mean their little cramped house. But he kept staring at her, his eyes cold and serious.

"Go with him. It's a great opportunity."

Kagura felt her eyes tear up. There's no way this was Gin-chan, he'd never abandon her...

"Stop kidding, Gin-chan!" she was now crying, tears falling onto the ground "This isn't funny!"

"You wanted me to hire you so you could go back home, didn't you? Well, now you can go back for free. And your dad is rich. Isn't that a double win?"

"NO, IT'S NOT!" she yelled, her voice shaky and broken. She refused to believe he was serious, he couldn't be...

But Gintoki simply turned around, showing her his back. "Go home." he repeated and started to walk away from her. Kagura, now one step away from hyperventilating, stood back up and ran towards him, grabbing his sleeve.

"Please, don't leave me, Gin-chan! This is a sick joke! You can't..."

"STOP IT ALREADY!."

Kagura's plea was interrupted by Gintoki, who yelled with extreme anger in his voice. She stared at him, her eyes widened from shock as her slowly turned his head around and said "Earth is too small for you. Go home."

He then turned back around and started to make his way towards Umibouzu, who was also shocked from the scene that just occured. Kagura fell down to her knees, crying loudly. The crowd was getting bigger and voices of disapproval and even insults started to fall on Gintoki, who passed Umibouzu. He expected to get hit by the Yato, but luckily for him, it didn't happen.

Kagura kept staring at the figure of the silver-haired man, hoping that he would turn around at any moment and tell her it's a joke. But as he kept getting further and further away from her, she started to realise that this was not a joke. It was reality.

Gintoki could hear the girl cry his name out, even dropping her "Gin-chan" for "Gintoki", full of pain and sadness.

But he didn't turn around, and as he walked out of the station, he could still hear her voice calling out for him.

He kept going, leaving a bloody trail behind him, as blood dripped from his tightly gripped fist. He walked, and walked, as the weather started to get worse and worse, until he made sure that he could no longer feel her voice. He stopped walking and looked at his hand, staring at it with dull look on his face, before the feeling of raindrops falling on his face made him snap out of his trance.

Glad that it started to rain, he smiled to himself - nobody would notice his tears.

End of Chapter 1.

This is a two part story, so if you didn't like how this one went on, don't worry - I may redeem myself in Chapter 2.


	2. Chapter 2

Here we go, Chapter 2. I'm still testing new writing styles, so if this one feels slightly different from my other works - it was supposed to be that way. Today (11th October) is my birthday(one day after Gin-san, fuck yea) so you can give me a nice present by Reviewing and Rating this work :D The beginning is slightly heavy, but it gets alot better at the end, trust me. Thanks and I hope you enjoy your ride!

Enjoy!

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"YOU DID WHAT?!"

These words echoed across almost entire Kabuki District, getting attention of every pedestrian in the area. They came from a certain shop, placed above a famous Bar that belonged to one of the 4 Devas - Otose. Being used to noise coming from that direction, everyone got back to their own business, quickly forgetting about this scream.

Gintoki, however, who was 3 meters away from that scream was slowly getting back up from the floor, rubbing his aching ears.

"As. I. said." he repeated himself, toning every word with immense irritation "I told her to go home. She's leaving Earth."

He sat back in his chair and continued to cut his toenails, this time twice as carefully - another one of Shinpachi's outbursts could result in amputated toes.

The boy, however, did not repeat himself and stared at Gintoki with a weird mix of emotions on his face. He wasn't sure himself what to feel - he never felt that way.

Silence filled the room, making the silver-haired samurai relax a little. It seemed like Shinpachi understood the situation and tried to move on. However, after few minutes of silence, the boy broke the silence.

"Seriously?"

Gintoki looked at him, raising a brow. If anything, he expected another retort, not a question he had no idea what to make of.

"I told her to go home. That's all? That's all you have to say?"

Gintoki frowned, not understanding what was he talking about. If anything, he was starting to get really mad at the young man. And not because of what he was talking about. His eyes, hidden behind glasses expressed pure disguist mixed with disappointment. A look he received from everyone he encountered in his childhood. Eyes he knew all too damn well. And he didn't like these eyes.

"Shinpachi." he said his name loudly, slowly putting down his nail cutter on desk. "Which part did you fail to understand? I told her to go with her father. He came to pick her up - I let him do that. What's so hard to understand?"

Shinpachi couldn't believe his ears. He hoped with all his strenght that the man standing in front of him didn't say that. But he did. And it made him angry.

"So you let her go with a man you know damn well she hates? Did you even take her feelings into consideration?"

His eyes changed. He looked like he waited for Gintoki to suddenly say it was all a joke. There was still some trace of trust in his eyes. But as much as he didn't want to, he had to break this trust.

"Like it or not, she's gone. She wanted money to go back anyway. That's why I let her stay with us. Now she can do it for free. And her dad is rich. Isn't that a double-

"Shut the fuck up."

Gintoki's eyes narrowed. He stared at Shinpachi with a weird feeling in his gut. He should be suprised about the boy cussing - it was the first time he heard him speak like that. But somehow, his tone made Gintoki feel hostility towards the boy. He didn't like that tone. The mood around two men thickened, as they continued to glare at each other, their eyes fierce like blades.

"You got a problem, Pattsan?" the older samurai said, losing remaining bits of patience he had. "If you don't like being here, why don't you just leave? Yorozuya is a one-man business, I don't need-

His outburst was cut off by a powerful punch to his right cheek. Losing balance, he fell with his chair to the floor, sprawling himself on his back. Almost immediately he felt iron taste of blood, which found its way to the corner of his mouth, streaming down his chin.

"WHAT-

"It seems like we've been the only ones who thought we were friends." Shinpachi said, his voice quiet and sad. Blood dripped from ripped skin on his knuckles, as he stood in front of Gintoki's desk, showing him his back and ready to leave.

These words pierced Gintoki harder than any kind of weapon in the world would. He stared at the leaving young man, locking his eyes on his back, as they kept getting smaller and smaller with each step Shinpachi made. He began to feel something build up inside of him. It wasn't anger for being punched. It wasn't shame, It was something that kept building up ever since that day. Feelings he tried to push down his very soul ever since that day. Ever since that incident. Yes, ever since she left.

"What's wrong with what I did?!" he yelled at Shinpachi, his voice almost begging. What was he begging for? "He's her FATHER for crying out loud! She should be spending time with him, not some useless human trash like me! Kids should be with their parents." he finished, his voice unnaturally quiet. What the hell was wrong with him?

Shinpachi stopped walking. He stood there for a second, still showing his back to Gintoki. After a short while, he slightly tilted his head to Gintoki's side.

"Do you really think children should always be with their parents? Even if they don't want to?" he asked him, his eyes somewhat softer. He still had hope that Gintoki was just having a bad day, and those weren't his real feelings. Gintoki knew what his intent was: Shinpachi was waiting for his answer, and depending on what he would answer with, he'd either stay or leave.

Feeling some sort of relief, Gintoki started to make his way back up. Deep down he was glad he had an employee such as Shinpachi - even in dire situations, he could still pick up even the smallest hints.

Slowly, almost comically he tried to pull his weight by grabbing his desk, ungracefully getting back up. He had no idea what to answer him with. He grabbed his chair and picked it back up with his right hand, putting it where it belonged, at the same time wiping blood of his chin with his left one. He did not, however sit down on the worn out fabric - his grip tightened on its handle as he looked at Shinpachi who kept waiting for his answer. Feeling that he may lose yet another employee due to his stupid stubborness, he focused his mind like never before, carefully picking words he would use. He sighed and scratched his head, trying to loosen up a little.

"Shouldn't they?" he asked him, sounding like a 5 year old.

Shinpachi turned around and looked at him with disbelief, completely not convinced with his boss' choice of words. Gintoki, seeing this, started to nervously sweat. All this fuss about carefully and he came up with that? WEAK. Pathetically weak. He immediately started to correct himself, feeling his chest tighten.

"Well...I mean...I never really had a father, so I don't really know, but...family should stick close, shouldn't it? You can't have a 16 year old girl living with a 2X year old stranger, alone in one house. I know if I had a daughter I'd never let her do stuff like that. I should be glad her dad didn't kill me for all I know."

His tone was completely off character, he didn't resemble Sakata Gintoki in the slightest. Who the hell was this fidgety guy? Shinpachi continued to stare at him, still not completely convinced with his boss' reasoning.

"I mean...if I had a family, that's how I'd imagine it."

He grinned nervously, looking at the young man in front of him through his silver bangs. Awaiting the boy's answer, seconds dragged out into minutes, as Shinpachi finally turned around entirely and looked at Gintoki, now facing him with his entire body. The older samurai opened his eyes wide, as Shinpachi's face became alot gentlier and he kept his sight on Gintoki. Did he lose yet another friend, or did her finally get to him?

Shinpachi continued to glare at Gintoki, feeling sadness gripping his heart. He was no longer mad at his boss, right now none of that mattered. Just now he understood more than he could possibly hope for. With that short sentence, Gin-san told him more than he could imagine.

"If you had a family, huh?" the boy repeated, making silverhead even more confused. He looked into Gintoki's eyes and dearly smiled at the man, finally sure of how to solve this situation.

"Gin-san, there's something I have to tell you."

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Umibouzu came out of the toiler, where he spent last 30 minutes, fighting one of the hardest fights of his life. Glad that it was finally over, he washed his hands and stepped out of the crime scene, noticing that everyone in approximately 30 meters from the toilets escaped to save their lives and lungs. He adjusted his hat and started to make his way to his bench, where he left his luggage. Soon after he reached his destination, finding his daughter in the same position she stayed in for past 2 hours.

Kagura was lying on her bench, showing entire Terminal her back, as she tightly hugged her colorful umbrella. Recognizing that it wasn't her Yato umbrella. Umibouzu figured that it must've been a gift from someone on Earth. And he was slowly figuring out whom it was from.

He sighed heavily and sat next to her, keeping his distance. Their reunion taught him that his daughter wasn't particularily fond of him, so the least he could do was keep his distance and give her some space. Since he couldn't see her face, he wouldn't be suprised if she continued crying. It's been 2 days since that incident and she was crying for 2 days. A part of him wanted to go back to that stinking office and pummel this bastard with his bare fists. But he knew that'd only make her hate him even more. Still, he couldn't get rid of that feeling of anger, especially after how they treated her. But her felt more than that. A feeling that was gripping his heart for past years, never letting him rest.

"They didn't even come to see you off. That's quite sad, to be honest. Shows how onesided your relations were."

Kagura, who was staring at the wooden seat of her bench, frowned with anger. She cried her eyes out for past 2 days, but right now she felt nothing. She didn't care about anything, or at least that's what she thought. Hearing her father talk his usual shit about others made her angry at her bald dad once again. Irritated, she raised herself and turned to face her dad, ready to talk back with her razor sharp tongue. However before she could speak up, she stopped in her tracks and looked at the man beside her, feeling her eyes widen a little. He didn't have that usual smirk on his face. Instead, he looked almost...guilty.

Umibouzu stared at the floor, with a faint faked smile on his face. He looked like a man full of regrets and soon after Kagura understood: he wanted to take her with him, but he most likely did not want it to go like that. He didn't want to see his daughter suffer, even if the sole fact of taking her from Yorozuya was hurtful on its own.

With the corner of his eye, he noticed the girl staring at him and looked at her, taking that fake smile off his face.

"Kagura, I know I did lots of terrible things. To you, and your brother and mother. I know you don't buy this crap about leaving you for your own good, but I really had no choice. I couldn't find another way. I've already lost your brother and your mother. Please" he grabbed her hand gently "don't let me lose you as well."

She didn't push his hand away. Instead, she grabbed it back. It was strong and warm, almost like...his.

"I think we can try." she said quietly. She already lost everything she had on Earth, she may as well start from anew.

Astonished, Umibouzu couldn't help stop himself from embracing his daughter in a tight hug. He was well aware she would probably smack him, he still kept her fragile form close to his own, gently brushing her orange her, so familiar to her mother's.

"I promise, I'll treasure you more than ever before. I won't disappoint you."

She didn't hug him back, but she didn't push him away either. She just stared at the back of his head. His voice was almost dripping from guilt. She wasn't sure what was he feeling guilty about, but only one thing mattered right now. From now on, he was her closest person in the world.

"You stink."

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Nearby police stations received multiple calls about a male driving his silver scooter with ridiculous speed. Shinsengumi, knowing well who were the reports about sighed heavily, lazily getting in their cars.

Gintoki rushed through the town, pushing his machine to its absolute limits. He was close to hitting someone on several occasions, but that didn't matter. Hid head was filled with one sentence, that echoed across his mind ever since he bursted out of his house.

"To her, you are family."

How could he be so stupid? How could he not notice something that simple? Who the hell would willingly live with a lazy bum like him? Who the hell would bother themselves with asking about his opinion on every single thing like a dress or her weight? She had been proposed to move out several times, both by him and Otae, who was almost certain he was looking at Kagura with "hungry" eyes. But she didn't. She stayed. she chose her crampy closet over a spacious bedroom. And what did he do? He rejected her, like she was some unwanted dog he couldn't afford to keep around.

"FUUUUUUUUCK!" he yelled, as he sped up even more, cursing his stupidity and ignoring his scooter's dangerous clicking. If he could clone himself, he'd do it, only to let his clone beat him up to death for being such an idiot. Shaking his head, he tried to focus on one simple task - catching her before it was too late.

Finally, he could see the big tower that was placed in the middle of town. Praying to nonexistent God, he didn't let the thought that it was too late blind him. Even if she didn't want to stay anymore, he would rather die than let their last memory be that stupid incident at that shitty train station.

Once again he sped up, this time hitting the absolute limit of his engine.

"Please be there, Kagura!"

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"Come on, Kagura, it's time." said Umibouzu, grabbing his things. Their ship arrived at the dock and it was time to get on.

She slowly jumped down from her bench. Despite being 16, she was still really small, being only 157 cm tall. She lazily grabbed her bags and threw them over her shoulder, making fellow passengers stare at her in shock, as they were at least 4 times as big as her.

She started to make her way towards her father, dragging her feet. He waited for her patiently, despite their tight schedule. He knew well that telling her to hurry up would only make her angry. After making few steps, Kagura stopped and turned around, looking at steel gates. But no matter how long she stared, nobody crossed them...

Knowing full well whom she was waiting for, Umibouzu sighed. His anger towards the samurai returned - he hoped that he'd at least come and see her off. Looking at his clock he decided to speed things up a little - they had no time.

"Kagura, we've got no time. Hurry up." he said, before resuming his way towards their ship.

Wiping her nose with her sleeve, Kagura picked up her pace and started to catch up to her dad, who was about to cross last gate before leaving the planet. Last traces of hope she had were gone. It was time to say goodbye to this planet and forget about those 2 years she spent here.

"KAGURAAAAA!"

Her eyes shot wide open. She recognized this voice immediately, she heard it so many times she would probably who it belonged to even if he modulated it to its maximum. But still, it didn't make any sense to her. Why would he...

She started to turn around, slightly scared of what she may see. Did he come here to chew her up one last time? Or did she forget to take something of hers and he simply came to give it back? So many questions and so little time. She finally made a full turn and noticed a silver-haired man, smacking security guards with his wooden sword, as they all yelled some gibberish she couldn't understand.

"Sir, you can't go there! You are not a passenger, we are about to take off!"

"Fuck off! I don't care about your stupid flight! Let me through, or I'll piss on you!." he yelled, smacking the guard across face with his sword, rendering him unconscious. Finally getting rid of the last pest, he put his sword back behind his belt and resumed his running, only to stop after few steps.

His face dropped as his eyes met with Kagura's. They stared at each other in silence, neither of them moving an inch.

"What the hell did you come here for, punk?" asked Umibouzu, acting tough. In reality, he was glad he came: it made both him and Kagura feel better about this whole situation.

Gintoki stared at the girl, completely ignoring her father. His thoughts, racing in his brain like crazy kept recording every detail of her figure. He noticed her messed up hair, that she didn't even bother to braid, her red, puffy eyes and immediately knew whose fault it was. He knew as much, but more than that, he expected to see hatred in her eyes. Something he deserved like noone else. And yet, she kept staring at him, her eyes still as blue and gentle as ever before.

He knew what had to be said but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't put it into words. As they continued to drown in each others eyes, Gintoki felt panic grab his chest. He knew that if he didn't hurry, she'd leave. Forever.

Finally, he could speak up and hoping that'd be enough to make her stay, at least for a while longer, he muttered.

"You're my family, too."

Kagura didn't seem to think anything of his words. Instead, she closed her eyes and turned around.

Gintoki, now entirely sure he failed, hung his head low. Well, he did deserve it...

Kagura, however, dropped her bags and turned back, quickly dashing at the older man, before punching him in his right cheek, hitting the exact same spot as Shinpach. Not suprisingly, he fell onto his back, sliding on the clean floor.

Massaging his already swollen cheek, he could feel it grow even bigger, as a quick thought "Yup, I deserved it." went through his mind. He looked back at the girl, who was now starting to sob uncontrollably, her face a weird mix of anger and happines mixed with sadness.

"Gin-chan, you idiot!" she sobbed, tears streaming down her porcelain skin "I screamed after you! I begged you to come back!"

Feeling like the biggest scum in the world, Gintoki got back up.

"And now, you come here and claim you suddenly care? Well, I don't! So goodbye, Gin-chan!" she turned around making her way towards her luggage.

She didn't reach it however, as someone embraced her from behind, tightly locking his arms around hers.

"Let go." she said, her voice not really convincing.

Gintoki, who locked Kagura in his arms, gripped her warm figure a little tighter, not planning on letting go.

"I know I'm an asshole, Kagura. I've known that since before you were born. I am lazy, unproductive and annoying to absolute limits."

Kagura didn't know where he was going with this. She already knew all this stuff, what was the point of saying it out loud?

"But most importantly, I have no idea what it means to have a family." he continued, his voice soft and vulnerable. Her eyes widened in confusion, as now she was completely lost.

"Or, should I say" he continued "I didn't. Until I met you and Shinpachi. At first, you were nothing but annoying brats to me. always talking shit, blaming me for everything that happened, getting me in trouble. But as we stayed tigether, that changed. You weren't simple brats who spent their time with me. You became warriors, you matured, you became adults. And before I noticed." his grip tightened, as he hesitated for a second, before finishing his thought "I thought of you as my own kids."

These words struck Kagura. Before she could realise, she felt tears gather in her eyes once again. This time, however, those were not tears of sadness or anger. He thought of them as his...kids?

"But none of that matters anymore." he sighed, as he let her out of his arms. He took few steps back and stared at the floor.

"I screwed everything up. I don't deserve you brats, not after what I did. I hope you get along with your dad and don't hate me that much when you're gone. Because... I'll miss you. Really."

He was about to make a turn. His consciense was at ease, as this was his oroginal plan. But his heart was still aching. He knew what would fix that - but it was too late for that.

However before he could turn, something tackled him. Or rather someone, as Kagura quickly closed the space between them and locked her arms around his waist, falling to the floor with him. He was about to protest, but before he could do that, Kagura wrapped herself around him and pressed her fragile, warm form against his own, quietly sobbing into his chest.

Wondering whether he did something wrong, he asked her "What's wrong, Kagura? Did I say something funny?"

She didn't respond immediately, as she kept sobbing into his white robe. Once she calmed down a little, she lifted her head up to look into his eyes and muttered these words.

"Geez, took you long enough, stupid perm. Of course you don't deserve us."

Gintoki smiled. He felt like a rock feel off his heart, as he wiped the girl's tears. He gently hugged her back, pressing her closer to his body, feeling her fragile body tremble as she continued to cry from happiness. He put his chin on top of her head and closed his eyes, letting them stay like that for a while. Luckily for him, there was noone around to witness their little moment. Wait, hold that thoight. There was someone.

Gintoki's eyes shot wide open, as he remembered about a certain bald individual. He quickly found him and looked him deep in the eyes, feeling sweat cover his back.

"Shit, I forgot she's his little girl..." he thought with terror, afraid of the Yato's next move.

Umibouzu, however, kept his eyes locked on his daughter's back. There was no trace of expected anger, hostility or sadness. Instead, he smiled. He genuinely smiled at the sight of his daughter in other man's arms. Gin, now completely thrown off course, blinked a few times, keeping his eyes on the older man.

He shifted his gaze from his daughter to Gintoki and his smile slightly fainted. However it didn't leave his face, as he was now looking into Gin's eyes, still smiling.

"You pass."

Gintoki blinked once again, his confusion reaching its limits. A mere "Huh?" was all he could mutter, as he kept observing Umibouzu, who was now adjusting his baggage on his back.

"I've been receiving letters about Kagura's well-doing. I was told she lives with an adult male, and works at some ridiculous business that brings no money at all. Truthfully, I was afraid. Yato's are used left and right and when I found out how often you let her take a part in battles, I was certain you're one of those scumbags. But I was wrong. And I'm glad I was wrong."

Kagura, who finally calmed down, wiped her face with Gintoki's sleeve(much to his irritation) and faced her father.

"Wait, so does that mean..."

"I never really planned on taking you away. At least, not before I was sure of their intentions towards you." Umibouzu continued "I had to act ike a scumbag to bring out the most sincere feelings you guys had for each other."

Both Kagura and Gintoki looked at each other at the same time. Did that mean...?

"Oh, and I guess I owe you some apologies, punk. I treated you like garbage back in that restaurant" Umibouzu said, facing Gintoki once again. He took his hat off and bowed down in the most awkward way - but it was the thought that truly counted.

"I'm sorry, punk."

"Apologies accepted, baldie."

Umibouzu smirked and put his hat back on, ready to leave. Kagura quickly got up and ran to her father.

"Wait, Papi!."

Umibouzu, who started to make his way towards the ship, stopped and looked at his daughter.

"Who told you all this?"

The older man smiled and responded with one word she never expected to hear.

"Kamui."

He turned back around and continued on his journey to the ship.

"I told you I'd cherish you more, didn't I, Kagura? Well, stay with them. Grow up with them and keep these lazy bums in check. I'll make sure to drop in from time to time. Until we see each other again, sweetie. Now excuse me, I have to refund your ticket. It's expensive as hell."

He crossed the gate and scanned his ticket at the last minute, as it automatically closed behind him. Both Kagura and Gintoki watched as his figure disappeared in the crowd and not long after, he departed from the planet.

Gin and Kagura looked at each other and smiled widely. He finally got back up from the floor, thinkin to himself that this is most likely 4th time he landed on his butt today.

"Well now, I guess we have to go home. Shinpachi's waiting for you."

"Ok!"

She started to stroll happily towards the exit, leaving her luggage on the floor. Gintoki looked at it, then back at the girl and asked her "Aren't you going to pick these up?"

Kagura stopped skipping and looked at him, mockingly "disguisted".

"What, are you going to make a little girl carry all this stuff? What kind of a father are you, huh, shitty Oyaji?"

Cursing the little brat, he mumbled words he'd rather not want her to hear as he picked her stuff up, his spine almost breaking from all this weight.

"Hey, wanna pick up some meat on our way back?"

"Sure, Gin-chan!"

They got out of Terminal and happily strolled back home, passing by shocked Shinsengumi members who simply slapped their foreheads and got back into their cars, not bothering themselves with the arrest.

Gintoki knew that going by scooter was faster, but he decided it was better if they walked and talked on their way back.

After all, they had two long days to make up for.

THE END


End file.
